COFFEE SHOP

The Observatory is not only a photography gallery.. We are also a speciality coffee shop serving delicious coffee and tea and handmade food.

We are proud to serve Redemption Roasters coffee.

As part of their mission to help young offenders successfully reintegrate into society, Redemption Roasters train them at their in-prison roastery with professional roasting and competition-level barista skills. The young offenders roast specialty coffee in small batches for our wholesale and retail customers, and run a café for the prison community and visitors. On the prisoners’ release they are also given assistance finding work within the coffee industry.

Just as the sourcing of their coffee is ethical, Redemption has shown that the whole roasting process can be socially responsible too. The result is a finely crafted cup of coffee that raises the bar for everyone.

“Redemption Roasters is a shining example of how the Prison Service works with our industry partners to teach skills in order to reduce reoffending. Through Redemption, the Apprentices received top-level training in a state-of-the-art facility, gain real work experience and are introduced to employement opportunities on release.” – Laura Boyle, Head of Reducing Reoffending, HMYOI Aylesbury

JOHN BULMER - THE NORTH

The North brings together for the first time the pioneering photojournalism of John Bulmer’s northern magazine commissions from the 1960’s and 70’s.

As a budding photographer one of Bulmer’s earliest assignments was to photograph Nelson in Lancashire for Town Magazine in 1960. It was also his first ever trip to the North of England, which at the time felt to him as ‘exotic as darkest Africa’. He spent only three days in Nelson but came back with some pictures that he still considers to be amongst his favourites after fifty years of travelling the world. The success of these black and white images led to a number of similar commissions over the next few years – to The Black Country, Warrington, The Potteries and Hartlepool. Bulmer felt welcomed everywhere he went with his camera; to pubs and working men’s clubs, and in the cobbled streets. He developed a strong affection for the people he encountered – the bond evident in his work.

The launch of The Sunday Times Colour Magazine was to propel Bulmer’s photography in a new direction. The sudden switch to colour caught out some photographers but Bulmer made the adjustment seamlessly and became one of the magazine’s key contributors. In 1965 he was sent North again, this time with colour film in his camera.

“Photography is a form of abstraction in a way – you reduce everything until you have something that’s simple enough to give you an emotional kick. And when you add colour it creates an extra dimension that can be a distraction. I decided to shoot in winter. This way I could soften the images with rain and fog.”

Bulmer’s extraordinary images of Halifax, Leeds and Liverpool for the Sunday Times and later, in 1976, of Manchester for Geo Magazine form an almost unique colour record of this remarkable era.

The North will be exhibited at The Observatory photography gallery until the 31st of May 2018.